December 1st came and went and so did the National Economic Council meeting but the matter of the fuel pricing mechanism could not be discussed as the topic yesterday focused on the security situation in Malaysia.
However, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad announced that the country would receive another round of fuel price cuts before Hari Raya Haji which falls on the 8th of December 2008, so expect something before the end of this week as the 8th is next Monday, or perhaps an announcement will be made on the day itself.
Datuk Shahrir also said that the drop would be a maximum of 15 sen per litre and would only be for RON97 and RON92 fuel as diesel is still being subsidised. We could be looking at RM1.85 per litre for RON97 petrol and RM1.75 per litre for RON92 petrol, which would make diesel more expensive than petrol at the pumps if diesel fuel’s current RM1.90 price tag does not get slashed!
Look like we’ll have to put up with crap diesel for quite some time, but now we could have to pay more than RON97 petrol for it as well.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
nice…I’m scared people will start driving their car like devil on the road since the fuel become too cheap for them….yeah the death rate will shoot up like a rocket during this festive season.
Strange la, why is diesel still being subsidised? Since it is derived from the same cheap crude oil that they extract benzene/petrol. Maybe the process is different….Mr. Minister, care to explain?
I presume we will be getting more strange explanations from strange minister.
this really sounds funny. why is there such a low priority on diesel? Is it because P1 and P2 do not have diesel capable cars? or is it because Petronas does not spend enough to produce good diesel? catch-22 situation?? i don’t quite understand it.
jomo: i don’t think so. people will drive the car like a devil due to many other reasons, the main one being attitude. once a mad driver, always a mad driver.
Classic!! the g always has classic excuses to evade what has been PROMISED, revising the price every 2 weeks. This delaying means the g gets to put some extra pocket money into their pockets, for the holiday shopping perhaps? shame…
As i anticipated a fuel price drop on monday, I had just enough petrol to get me through monday. Since there was no price drop I had to fill up and now they tell me that they have reduction. What a bloody joke. For everyday that they never reduce they get at least millions worth of money. Daylight robbery at its finest.
droll said,
December 2, 2008 @ 7:06 am
this really sounds funny. why is there such a low priority on diesel? Is it because P1 and P2 do not have diesel capable cars?
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the majority of manufacturers presented in malaysia do not have diesel capable cars.. its got nothing to do with national makes.
an interesting point to note though, is that diesel costs more than petrol in the UK.
“droll said,
this really sounds funny. why is there such a low priority on diesel? Is it because P1 and P2 do not have diesel capable cars? or is it because Petronas does not spend enough to produce good diesel? catch-22 situation?? i don’t quite understand it.”
for your info, PETRONAS as well as other major oil refinery, name it Shell, Esso, BP etc does and can produce a better fuel (petrol or diesel). but it is stated by our stupid G that they dont want to change to better diesel quality, still stuck using the rubbish one. once the G said that they want better diesel, the oil refinery can simply process the oil to the desired fuel quality, like the exported fuel quality.
Its true that we get more petrol then diesel from a barrel of crude.
But yeah, why is diesel get so low priority? Trying to kill more businesses?
Price cut before Haji? Please note that for those who take bus balik kampung will still have to bear the high ticket cost.
I wonder if Shahrir realizes that those public & express buses, container trucks, lori angkut tanah, lori sampah, and some taxis (especially older Toyotas and Nissans) are using diesel as their fuel? =_=;
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 2, 2008 @ 8:09 am
droll said,
December 2, 2008 @ 7:06 am
this really sounds funny. why is there such a low priority on diesel? Is it because P1 and P2 do not have diesel capable cars?
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the majority of manufacturers presented in malaysia do not have diesel capable cars.. its got nothing to do with national makes.
an interesting point to note though, is that diesel costs more than petrol in the UK.
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Well, majority of manufacturers can easily offer modern diesels if the fuel is better. I would have trouble thinking of any major manufacturer that doesn’t already have a range of diesels in thier stables.
So whats keeping them? Since refining higher quality diesel isn’t a problem. Is some unknown force stopping it. My guess is as good as yours
Why you ask then? Not going to name names, but guess who don’t have the capability of making good diesel engines…..for crying out loud, is it that difficult to just bolt a small french diesel (widely accepted as the best in the business) in thier cars ? Jatuh maruah ah?
Yes, in many countries, diesel is more expensive than petrol, but there are still more diesels than petrol cars about in Europe. Why? diesels go at least 20% further per L, and you get that big fat low end torque grunt for city driving.
topic on fuel, but P1 and P2 names mentioned….
haha.. weird malaysian…
i was trying to refuel last sunday and the shell pump near my place had run out of fuel. sigh…….this is really sickening!
i believe the majority of manufacturers can offer a good diesel solution to consumers when there is a push from the govt for better quality diesel. the thing i don’t understand is why the govt is still adamant on providing crap quality diesel?
is it because of the fishermen? it doesn’t make sense to give good quality diesel at subsidized prices to fishermen?
there must be a logical (albeit selfish) reason for this…
i thought in an oil refinery to produce a certain amount of petrol, a certain amount of diesel must come out at the same time, together with kerosene, bitumen etc….so since the demand for diesel is still high compared to petrol, maybe that’s why it hasn’t dropped?
agreed with autojohndoe…price drop oso want to whine some more aa…aiyaa!!
Is it true to get higher grade petrol simoply pressing a switch? I don’t think so. High grade EuroIV require Xylene-Mix (++) which no refiners in Malysia have.
So clean fuel might be further away then you think.
Other country diesel quality is EURO 2 above standard and even they sell expensive, the diesel still score more Mile/Liter compare to Petrol!
I dont mind if the diesel quality in our country is upgrade to EURO 2 above and selling expensive, at least our environment will be less polluted due to less sulfur and we can drive better pick-up and cars, such like VW Bluemotion Polo which beat civic hybrid ass for it’s FC.
The G should came out like Shell did, sell EURO 2 as like better grade diesel. (Other country in Europe have Vpower Diesel!)
It is sad that when the fuel price is higher then market price, we tend to spend more also in imported cars.. Seems not so balance the market… Recession?!? Seems the G is Taxing us to help boost up the economy ( or their pocket?)…
I think is time someone complain to that sharir guy and ask him whether our fuel quality is on par with the world market?!?
autojohndoe said,
December 2, 2008 @ 9:08 am
topic on fuel, but P1 and P2 names mentioned….
haha.. weird malaysian…
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Why weird? the whole industry is linked to the same source. The Government….and all its little devils.
If no one complains, how do things get better? I might forgive your naiveté if you are born yesterday….
THANK U SHAHRIR…….
1.85 IS GOOD FOR MY POCKET.
DONT CARE ABOUT THE DIESEL…
I OWN A SUZUKI SWIFT LOL….
COMPLAINT IS THE AH BENG CULTURE…
Float the price stupid Shahrir. Its now or never.
droll said,
December 2, 2008 @ 9:27 am
i believe the majority of manufacturers can offer a good diesel solution to consumers when there is a push from the govt for better quality diesel. the thing i don’t understand is why the govt is still adamant on providing crap quality diesel?
is it because of the fishermen? it doesn’t make sense to give good quality diesel at subsidized prices to fishermen?
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you explanation is certainly more realistic compared to some of the others here. i certainly thing its got not much to do with the car industry.
do you guys think that just cause of poor diesel quality, car manufacturers dont bring in diesels? manufacturers can still tailor engines to run on euro1 diesel if they wanted to.. its not a problem.. they already homologate cars to run on all kinds of fuels all over the world.. and they dont have to worry about Co2 emissions in malaysia.
The FACT is, and i strongly believe this, is that asians just do not buy diesel cars in large numbers.. thats a fact. just look at the whole asian market, singapore, HK, japan, ..etc. diesels are just not cool somehow.. even in australia they dont go for diesels.. so why should manufacturers bring in diesel models if they cannot gurantee sales?
conspiracy theories are good and find, but i think some people just get so fixated with it, they dont see the other issues.
How about Thailand? The land of Diesel Turbo pick-up~!
Good !!!!!
BanyakMasukWorkshop:
“The FACT is, and i strongly believe this, is that asians just do not buy diesel cars in large numbers.. thats a fact. just look at the whole asian market, singapore, HK, japan, ..etc. diesels are just not cool somehow.. even in australia they dont go for diesels.. so why should manufacturers bring in diesel models if they cannot gurantee sales?”
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Thats not a fact, thats your opinion.
If diesel cars can be proven to be more powerful and more fuel efficient, as well as just as easy to service and has low road tax, then you will see many more diesel cars on Malaysian roads. As it is, diesel cars are already more powerful and fuel efficient, just that our diesel standards are really low, and we charge high road tax on diesel cars (unreasonably so).
Your FACT is just like the “fact” that Americans don’t drive small cars……well guess what after the recent oil price hike………they do!
So guess is not a “fact” after all.
Just hope that our honourable minister is telling the truth that diesel while retailing at the current price is STILL being subsidised. Correct me if am wrong – unsubsidised industrial diesel is now being sold at <rm2/liter.
Can someone do the maths – figures are from the US govt EIA website:
Petrol – crude oil 59% refining cost 3%
Diesel – crude oil 50% refining cost 14%
So the combined cost for diesel is only 2% higher than petrol. Moreover US diesel is ultra low sulphur which cost more to refine. Million dollar question is HOW COME DIESEL BEING SOLD AT 1.90 IS SUBSIDISED WHILE THE GOVT GETS A TAX FROM PETROL SOLD AT 2.00?
Since the gas price will drop below RM2.00, I like to see some price drop on other things, mostly the necessity, I think this affect us the most…
Economy will soon going bad, hope they can reduce the price to ease out our life…
not_ah_beng,
Yes it has better fuel efficiency, but not more powerful. Yes, they hv more torque, but somehow its not as responsive as petrol engine.
Only green diesel engine able to get low road tax, they r categorise by co2 emission. Basically its not all diesel gets low road tax, n its not just as u said “and we charge high road tax on diesel cars (unreasonably so).”.
basically its just your opinion as well, cause u put “if” in front.
numbers r just for benchmark, real world application might vary. n unless the diesel engine u talks about is high tech dope from audi, others just arent rev happy at all! which means yes u get low end torque, but how long u hv to rev it? unless u tune them, which most average joe dont even bother to do that.
my point is, just leave diesel as economic alternative, forget about sports application. no matter how powerful u think they r, main purpose r for torque, ease of maintain, n economic. n if diesel without turbo…dont even think about it! its not as efficient as u thought
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 2, 2008 @ 11:41 am
do you guys think that just cause of poor diesel quality, car manufacturers dont bring in diesels?
conspiracy theories are good and find, but i think some people just get so fixated with it, they dont see the other issues.
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erm…. let me put it this way….
Why don’t we have good diesel cars.
1) No proper diesel to run (if thats not already bad enough)
2) Old diesels are noisy, smokey, sooty, and underpowered (since we dont have the new engines). Why? Look at point 1
3) Road tax is high for diesels (a’la environmental tax for polution). Why? Look at point 1 and 2.
4) Consumers don’t buy diesel cars. Why? Look at point 1, 2, and 3
5) Manufacuters don’t offer new diesels. Why? Look at all the above.
I think that will put things into perspective
Diesels are not the cure all, but its a good start. This is what is being called a government directive. Goverment say so, companies follow. Government lax, Companies go “hahahah”.
Now, notice that I haven’t even brought out the high fuel cost, high car taxes, AP bull crap, low per-capita disposable income and savings….all of which affects the buying power of consumers and thier abilit to upgrade and change to better vehicles.
Fixated, Nah. There are plenty of things wrong with this country. Fuel is but 1 of them. But since this is an automotive forum, lets start there.
“biggie said,
Is it true to get higher grade petrol simoply pressing a switch? I don’t think so. High grade EuroIV require Xylene-Mix (++) which no refiners in Malysia have.
So clean fuel might be further away then you think.”
No such things as pressing the button ROFLOL. They need to replace some of the equipment in the processing plant, which is not a big challenge. They produce to the required standard, but then the refinery add their secret recipe into the fuel to make it better, like the V-Power and Primax3.
in fact, they use the same pipeline, shared by PETRONAS, Shell, Esso etc for transferring the fuel to place like airport etc. is no big issue since their product is basically in the same standard.
Watever….so long as the price is low…i dun care! “They” have rob so much from us in past years, now it’s time to have what is rightfully ours!! I’m glad for the petrol price reduction, dunno about the diesel though…
Actually most of the other country’s diesel is expensive then the petrol such as China. Reason???
not_ah_beng said,
December 2, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
BanyakMasukWorkshop:
“The FACT is, and i strongly believe this, is that asians just do not buy diesel cars in large numbers.. thats a fact. just look at the whole asian market, singapore, HK, japan, ..etc. diesels are just not cool somehow.. even in australia they dont go for diesels.. so why should manufacturers bring in diesel models if they cannot gurantee sales?”
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Thats not a fact, thats your opinion.
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if only it was my opinion. why dont you go do a study on diesel car sales in the region and get back to me. facts are… diesels are fine for trucks, 4×4..etc. but in asia.. diesels for cars is a taboo of sorts.
it will take a lot more time, and marketing to convince people to switch to diesels in this region.
4G63T DSM said,
December 2, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
erm…. let me put it this way….
Why don’t we have good diesel cars.
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to a certain extent, i do agree with your explanation and you have valid points. but you’re still too fixated on point one, diesel quality. bmw brought in the 530D, i initially thought that car is headed for the scrap yard with our diesel quality.. then a friend of mine bought 1.. drives it daily, and has even tracked it.. and its power is amazing(although with our diesel, some power loss will occur). and his car is still going strong till now, running on our poor diesel .. but the car didnt sell well at all, most people have the perception that a bimmer must run on petrol and be a sixpotter.. btw, it doesnt belch smoke or rattles or makes noises like a minibus.
there are more reasons why people dont buy diesels than you have metioned. i dont think its as simple as that.
and btw, the main reason why euro 1, 2, 3, 4..etc diesels were introduced wasnt to cater to manufacturers and their cars.. but in the interest of reducing emissions.
wtf, still stuck with shitty ass diesel.
someone manipulating the cabinet is it? lol.
when it the upgrade gonna come ah??????
on other news, cheaper price means good for all!
roti canai price drop oso dey?
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 2, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
and btw, the main reason why euro 1, 2, 3, 4..etc diesels were introduced wasnt to cater to manufacturers and their cars.. but in the interest of reducing emissions.
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Well, yeah, but if everyone has moved to Euro 4, what likelyhood that a manufacturer will make a limited run engine for us just because we have crappy diesel.
But you also have to look further to understand that a Euro 4 engine is far more advanced engine than a Euro 2, not only because it has to meet the emmisions standard, but also because it is a newer development (keypoint). So what you have is an automatic improvement to the powertrain even if the primary objective of Euro 4 is emmisions.
I have driven various modern diesels in France (ie. rental cars – usually a 307 1.9Hdi). Complaints? Not really. Half the time it feels like a normal petol engine, a little rattly on startup but once warmed up, its fine. Sure it dont rev like a high strung petrol, but really, for daily driving, that probably quite low on the need list, besides that the low end torque more than make up for it, especially if it was an automatique.
So whats really stopping lets say Naza from bringing thier excellent French diesels to the local CKD Peugeots? No demand or no fuel? People will buy diesels if given the choice, especially high mileage users. Look at the amount of “on road use only” of diesel pickups. The rest of us just need it in a package that is smaller.
Same parallel can be drawn with hydrogen. No infrastructure (ie. no fuel) no hydrogen cars.
I would take a bet if a car like the Honda City had an option of a good, small displacement Euro4 or higher turbodiesel (say like Renault’s 1.5L DCi 85 or 105) and the 1.5L VTEC, a large % of the targeted market will opt for the diesel.
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 2, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
it will take a lot more time, and marketing to convince people to switch to diesels in this region.
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I agree.
But most of them have never driven a modern diesel to know what they are missing.
Fully agree with 4G63T DSM.
Most have never driven a modern diesel powered engine. They stereotype from what they heard and seen from the commercial lorries.
Modern diesel engine with commonrail technology, it is the engine for today.
Many make decisions from ignorance and they say “Ignorance is bliss”
Check the sales figure in Europe and UK. I think there are 70% diesel and 30% petrol for new passenger car sales. The difference is getting bigger.
I for one, will opt for a diesel powered engne if given a choice.
4G63T DSM said,
December 3, 2008 @ 8:39 am
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 2, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
it will take a lot more time, and marketing to convince people to switch to diesels in this region.
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I agree.
But most of them have never driven a modern diesel to know what they are missing.
drop more